


I Only Wanted to See Your Eyes

by Yashiko61



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Post-Star Trek Beyond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-22 08:21:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8279255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yashiko61/pseuds/Yashiko61
Summary: Jim hesitates outside Bones' door, afraid to wake him.





	

Jim stood in the quiet corridor of the D deck, hovering outside Bones' door, hesitating to punch in the code to open it. He had gotten off shift a couple hours ago, had eaten some dinner and showered, but hadn't seen much of his CMO in the last couple days. Bones was on a week of gamma shifts, and as the week progressed, he was going to bed later and sleeping a little longer each day. A couple days ago, he was spotted in the mess hall around standard supper time for the alpha shift staff, clearly just awaken, but Jim had missed him aside from brief passes around shift changes in the morning ever since. 

Jim knew that Bones was not a truly natural shift worker, nor really much of a morning person at all, but insisted that he take some beta and even gamma shifts in spite of having enough staff now, after the crew complement grew to match the capacity of the new Enterprise-A, that he likely could have avoided it. Jim tried briefly once to argue that it wasn't necessary anymore, but lost the argument when Bones countered that it was highly unlikely that Jim would stop doing the same with his own shifts.

Touché.

So, Jim found himself debating on if he should chance Bones being up already, but killing time before the mess served the gamma breakfast, or still firmly asleep in his bed. 

If they both were working the same shift, or even the odd occasion when one was on alpha and the other beta, they sometimes slept together. But it was practical for them to have their own space for when their schedules conflicted, or even just needed some time to themselves. Finally admitting their feelings for each other didn't mean they suddenly were permanently attached at the hip any more than it already seemed to some people.

Jim decided that he should at least see if Bones was up, and pushing in the last of the access code, had the door open in front of him to show Bones' darkened room. He stepped in, and when the door slid shut behind him, the only light was from the dim fixture near the door. There was a Bones shaped lump on the bed in the far corner, and Jim suddenly hesitated even more to invade the space further. Bones had barely stirred when he had entered the room, a sign that he was still deeply asleep.

Jim toed off his running shoes near the door, and padded towards the bed silently. Bones was sprawled out on his stomach, head turned towards the bathroom door. Even in the dim light, he had an air of serenity that he rarely displayed when awake, chest rising slowly beneath the blankets with the breaths of a man in deep sleep.

He gently pushed a strand of Bones' hair from his forehead, and straightened the blankets to cover the top of the shoulder that had been exposed. Bones stirred, and Jim froze in place, afraid that he disturbed his friend's rest, but Bones resettled into the spot and his breathing evened out again. Jim backed away from the bed, and picked up his shoes before stepping out into the hallway and retreating to his own quarters.

A couple hours later, Jim's own door slid open, and Bones stumbled in, not yet totally awake. He kicked off his boots at the door, walked to the tiny kitchenette and demanded a coffee from Jim's drink slot, then flopped on the couch. Jim playfully smoothed out a strand of Bones' hair, still a bit wet but stiffening with some of the product he used to tame the cowlicks, as Bones tried desperately to wake up enough that he could get through breakfast and show up for his shift with his usual grumpy, yet professional demeanour. 

"Had a good sleep?" Jim asked, still unsure if Bones had even heard him earlier.

"Ugh, yeah, sort of," Bones mumbled more into the coffee mug than anything. "For a tin can with no natural sunlight, I still have trouble doing nights. My sleep gets so screwed up." As if to emphasize his point, he let out a huge yawn.

"How did you ever get through your residency?"

"Caffeine," Bones drained the mug, standing up to go fetch another.

"And you bother me if I drink more than two cups in a shift."

"That's because you vibrate off the walls after the third. Or try to help in Engineering. Neither ends well."

"That's mean, Bones. I would have made a good engineer."

"So Scotty tells me, but the two of you together are a menace." Bones cradled the second mug of coffee, less intent on inhaling its contents than as he had the first. "How was your shift?"

"Oh same old. We're looking at some options for systems to get a better look at next week. Spock says one has potential though for sentient life so you know what the preparations are like for assessing first contact issues."

Bones rubbed his eyes a little. "Oh joy, remote observation and lots of reports."

"You know it."

Bones looked up at the chrono, and drained half of his mug of coffee. "I should grab some breakfast. I assume you've already eaten though."

"I had supper a few hours ago, but I can come with you while you eat."

"Nah, it's okay. Chapel is on gamma with me and I said I might go over some new protocols for emergency dermal regen techniques that I read about when they sent the last batch of journals in the data packet."

Jim tried to give his best shit disturber grin on. "You don't want me to come with you, I get it." He sniffed theatrically for emphasis.

"Knowing you, you've already raided the snack stash in here that you always deny exists."

"I'll just come and have a hot chocolate. Besides, it doesn't hurt to know about your new protocols, given it might have relevance to anyone trained as a first responder medic."

Bones glanced at bit at Jim, before finishing his coffee, knowing that shooing Jim away now would make him more determined to follow. "Fine."

The two of them pulled on their footwear, and Bones looked at Jim. "By the way, what were you up to earlier?"

"After my shift? Supper, then was skimming some reports that I didn't get to this afternoon. Why?" Jim tried not to look too much as though he was caught with the hand in the cookie jar.

"Oh nothing. Don't worry about it." Maybe Bones did actually hear the door even in his sleep, but wasn't sure about it. They walked down the corridor, and Bones stalled in front of the turbolift. Their deck was mostly senior officers' quarters, they were unlikely to be passed by other crew members at this hour. He reached up and pulled Jim against his chest, smelling the lingering scent of Jim's body wash. 

"I love you."

Jim eased into Bones' embrace, before pecking a playful kiss to the tip of his nose and looking into Bones' hazel eyes. "Me too. Let's get you some food. You always get sentimental when you're hungry."

Bones narrowed his eyes at Jim. "Sentimental?"

"Or really angry at everything. I'll take sentimental though over the other," Jim smiled at Bones.

All he got in response was being shoved into the turbolift once the doors opened in front of them as Bones muttered "Sentimental my ass, I'll show you sentimental..."

If Jim smiled contentedly all the way to the mess hall, his grumpy doctor didn't say anything. And he wouldn't have it any other way.  
￼

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short work, to help me get over some of my writing block.


End file.
